common archetypes: built-in personality for your brand
figure 1. two rows of icons representing twelve universal archetypes. top row includes a jester’s cap, a heart, a trio of three abstract people, a watering can, a crown, and a paintbrush with an easel. bottom row includes a trophy, a magician’s hat with a rabbit, a May 1st page-a-day calendar, a compass, a set of three reports, and a cloud bubble.
Memorable brands start with personality. And that personality, if the right one, attracts your ideal customer to you.
Want to know if your brand’s personality is helping or hurting you? Start with the twelve common archetypes.
Natural stories usually begin with archetypes. Why? Because “[a]rchetypes are powerful attractors of consciousness, [u]sing [them] can shift your brand from push to pull, from messaging to values, from control to expansion and move your engagements from transactions toward relationships.” 1
What makes archetypes so attractive? Archetypes mirror worldviews. Which means all of us can relate to them.
And that means there’s always one archetype (or a couple) that we see ourselves in. On the flip side, there’s at least one archetype that’s the exact opposite of who we are.
Match your brand archetype with your ideal customer’s worldview and raving fans can result.
Four Purposes
Archetypes fall along two axes: risk versus stability and belonging versus independence.
figure 2. twelve universal archetypes arranged in a circle divided into four quadrants according to purpose. The vertical axis is belonging or enjoyment/people or community above the horizontal axis and independence/freedom or identity or seeking/learning/fulfillment. The horizontal axis is risk or mastery/results/achievement to the left of the vertical axis and stability/structure or control. From top right clockwise, the four motivations are: order, self-knowledge, change, and group belonging. From top right clockwise, the twelve archetypes are: nurturer, leader, creator, dreamer, advisor, explorer, revolutionary, magician, champion, jester, lover, and colleague.
Risk or Change
figure 3. icons representing three universal archetypes driven by risk or change, from left to right, a trophy for Champion; a magician’s hat and wand with a rabbit for Magician; and a May 1st calendar page for Revolutionary.
Three archetypes offer the promise of results, mastery, achievement, or change:
Champion: brings meaning to what they do, using courage and discipline. Your brand gets things done in an effective manner. You’re known for delivering on your promises, going above and beyond.
Magician: transforms ideas into breakthrough innovations or changes something or someone in some way. You’re known for promising miracles and making dreams come true.
Revolutionary: doesn’t like the world as it is and wants to change it. Your brand aims to liberate yourself or others from repression and break free of the prevailing dominant culture. You’re known for throwing aside societal norms.
Stability or Order
figure 4. icons representing three universal archetypes driven by stability or order, from left to right, a watering can for Nurturer; a crown for Leader; and a paintbrush and easel for Creator.
Three archetypes offer the promise of stability, structure, or control:
Creator: has a highly developed sense of aesthetics. You seek to give form to a vision and transform reality. You want your work to be exceptional and enduring across time and place.
Leader: provides order and structure for an effective society. You’re known for being the leader in your industry. Your products are superios to your competition, the best, the biggest, and the most popular.
Nurturer: seeks to help others and does so with compassion and generosity. You create a perception of unselfishness and open-heartedness, building reassurance and trust.
Group Belonging
figure 5. icons representing three universal archetypes driven by group belonging, from left to right, a jester’s cap for Jester; a heart for Lover; and a grouping of three abstract people for Colleague.
Three archetypes offer the promise of group belonging, community, or enjoyment:
Colleague: wants to belong, fit in. You build communities for your customers, bringing them together to achieve a common goal. You take pride in seeing your products used in everyday life and in your customers’ homes.
Lover: promises the bliss of true love. You make people feel special and appreciated. You’re known for connecting people and helping them create the best version of themselves to attract others to them.
Jester: wants to enjoy life as it is, and will use laughter to lighten up the world. You help customers have a good time and embrace a fun-loving, freewheeling culture.
Independence or Self-Knowledge
figure 6. icons representing three universal archetypes driven by independence or self-knowledge, from left to right, a compass for Explorer; three reports for Advisor; and a cloud bubble for Dreamer.
Three archetypes offer the promise of independence, freedom, identity, or fulfillment:
Explorer: seeks something that will improve your life. You’re always on a mission to find a better, more exciting world. Your brand is known for adventure, discovery, and exploration.
Advisor: desires to find truth with a goal of getting a better understanding of the world around them. Your brand journeys far in search of knowledge, seeking truth and enlightenment. You’re perceived as wise and knowledgeable.
Dreamer: sees the potential for sacred beauty in all things or seeks safety. You make life simple and value ethics. Your brand is traditional and rarely changes.
What’s your brand archetype?
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